Children's Home run by Purple Ash Limited in Leicester

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2691652 1 Purple Ash Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately run and provides care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

A new manager has been appointed. They have not yet registered with Ofsted.

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This monitoring visit

This home was judged inadequate at the full inspection on 16 and 17 May 2023. Following the inspection, several statutory requirements were set, and a compliance notice was issued in relation to the leadership and management of the home.

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This monitoring visit

This visit was carried out to judge whether the actions set following the inadequate judgement have been met. The inspector found that some progress has been made. However, the compliance notice has not been met in its entirety. Therefore, this has been restated.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers have taken steps to improve the consistency of care that children receive. A full staff team is now in place and staff vacancies have been recruited to. Regular relief staff work additional shifts when required. This means that children maintain positive and trusting relationships with staff they know. Managers are working hard to continue to stabilise the team.

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This monitoring visit

Children can reflect on their behaviour and discuss their worries with staff. This helps children to communicate their feelings in a safe way and helps to alleviate their anxieties. However, debriefs are not always recorded. This prevents learning being shared with the team to continue to improve the quality of care that children receive. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2691652 2 There has been a strong emphasis on staff development and training. This has ensured that staff have robust knowledge of their safeguarding roles and responsibilities and the required skills to meet children’s needs. This is reinforced by the reflective and good-quality supervision that takes place with staff. Managers now use scenarios with staff to further develop their knowledge and awareness. This has equipped staff with the knowledge and skills required to meet children’s needs and keep them safe.

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This monitoring visit

Incidents are well managed by staff. However, recording of incidents remains an area for improvement. For example, one report for an incident that took place on 26 May 2023 has several inaccuracies. The inspector alerted senior managers to the inaccuracies; however, they have not been rectified. Staff involved in this incident have not received formal debriefs. This does not ensure that lessons are learned and fails to ensure that staff feel supported following a serious incident.

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This monitoring visit

During one incident, a child threw hot water at staff. This incident has not been reviewed by managers. It is concerning that staff involved have not been debriefed and measures have not been implemented following this incident to keep children and staff safe. This has the potential to place all at increased risk of harm.

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This monitoring visit

Safer recruitment of staff continues to be an area of concern. Despite concerns raised at the last visit, it was identified that managers have not implemented a risk assessment for a staff member in post while they await relevant checks to be completed. As a result, Ofsted cannot be assured that staff are safe to work with children.

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This monitoring visit

Staff are aware of how to keep children safe and are more vigilant. However, children’s plans and assessments contain inconsistencies, which prevents clear guidance being provided to staff to meet children’s needs. However, due to improved communication among the staff team, staff are able to evidence sound knowledge of the correct plans. This has ensured a consistent approach to behaviour management despite plans not being up to date.

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This monitoring visit

During the visit, a further safeguarding concern was identified relating to staff not following the missing-from-home protocol when a child went missing. There was a period of five hours where staff failed to search for the child. As a result, the child was put at more risk through staff’s failure to act. There was a significant delay in this incident being evaluated by managers and the child being spoken to about their time away from the home. This fails to evidence effective management oversight.

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This monitoring visit

Managers and leaders have failed to report a safeguarding incident to Ofsted. Failure to share information hinders the regulator’s ability to monitor the quality of care being provided and the safety of children.

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This monitoring visit

The manager has not carried out sufficient quality assurance and monitoring of the home. This is despite a weekly audit tool being in place. The manager has identified Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2691652 3 positive changes to forms to add management oversight, but this is yet to be embedded in practice. As a result, the manager does not have effective oversight of the home.

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This monitoring visit

Management monitoring and oversight are not yet effective. There is a lack of management analysis and some incidents have not been reviewed in a timely manner. Furthermore, debriefs and have not routinely taken place to ensure that incidents have been managed correctly. This impairs the staff and manager’s capacity to learn from incidents and prevent reoccurrence.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers understand the areas that require improvement. They have implemented an action plan to address these areas and make the required changes. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2691652 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/05/2023 Full Inadequate 17/01/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2691652 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children are consulted about the day-to-day running of the home and are provided with an opportunity express their views and wishes following a restraint. 11 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being;

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and 11 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2691652 6 well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well- being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children are provided with healthy and nutritious meals. It also relates to ensuring that children are taught about their health needs and allergies.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children’s risks are understood by staff. Plans and assessments must accurately reflect the needs and risks for each child and provide guidance to staff on the action they must take to keep children safe. 11 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

*The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 11 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2691652 7 lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers embedding monitoring systems in the home to improve the quality of care. It also relates to the home having sufficient staff who are trained to meet children’s needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that medication is administered in line with the prescriber instructions. It also relates to ensuring that accurate records are maintained for medicines administered to or refused by a child. 11 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. (Regulation 32 (1)) 11 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2691652 8 This specifically relates to managers ensuring that appropriate action is taken to complete all required checks for staff coming from overseas.

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that records of physical intervention are reviewed in a timely manner and child debriefs take place within the required time frame. 11 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)(e)) 11 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject of a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides the opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. The home should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature and help children to recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2691652 9 wider community. This relates to consequences being punitive and not linked to the behaviour. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2691652 10

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Inspector

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2691652 11 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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